The San Diego Padres' ongoing quest for a World Series (or at least a playoff title). "You know that many runners enter a race, but only one of them wins the prize. So run to win! Athletes work hard to win a crown that cannot last, but we do it for a crown that will last forever." 1 Corinthians 9:24-25

Beyond Belief

Off-days. Ugh.

So as I sit here wracking my brain to find something to write about, I’ll just write about what I thought about writing about. Never mind. Off-days do strange things to the brain. Or maybe it’s the heat.

When I was on the first vacation four weeks ago, I was talking to my sister on the phone at the Dulles airport while my flight was delayed. She asked me if I had bought anything for myself, and I realized that I hadn’t. But I knew of something that I could get for myself at the Borders across the way. It was Josh Hamilton’s book, Beyond Belief. I had wanted to read it for a long time, and I thought, might as well get it. I read the first chapter on the way home, but put it down for a week or so once I got home.

Fast forward to two weeks later, when I left on vacation again, this time with my family. We had a lot of spare time when we were up there, so I pulled out the book again and finished it there.

It was amazing!! It was very well-written, and the story really grabbed me in. I thought the story of his addiction to drugs was masterfully written. It really showed what was going through his mind at the time, and how it was affecting him, his friends and family, and his baseball career. This story is just amazing. I loved how it showed that recovering from something like this isn’t easy. It seems that in the media (songs, TV, movies), recovery from something like drugs is easy. You just stop, and then it’s happily ever after. But that’s not the way it happens in real life. Josh had to fight against his cravings every day. He was set back quite a few times. With the amount of terrible drugs he put into his body, he should have died.

It’s a great story of redemption. When he finally got back into baseball with the Tampa Bay (then) Devil Rays, his teammates didn’t support him. They just kind of stood back while the media crowded around Josh. But when Josh made his way to the Rangers, at his very first press conference, three of the most prominent Rangers players were there to support him.

It’s an incredible book, and I would highly recommend it. What a great story.

My project for the week is writing fanmail to a lot of the Padres players. I’ve never sent fanmail before (except to Trevor with the Brewers), so this is really cool for me. I’m probably writing to 10-15 players this week. Yesterday I did Kouz (of course) and David Eckstein. Each letter is going to be different depending on the player. For Kouz, I told him a lot of the stories of my interactions with him, like the day I became such a big fan of him. This is a really exciting project for me. Who knows if the players will ever read them, but it’s cool to support them like this!

So, the Padres are in Atlanta for three games against the Braves this week. Mat Latos is pitching tonight against Jair Jurrjens. I really hope Mat can get things together and pitch a great game.

What a fun project! I’ll be interested to hear how many responses you get. I’ll have to check out the Hamilton book. It must be tough for him to stay on the wagon and resist the temptations that are out there. What a great story of redemption he is.
SueRants, Raves, and Random Thoughts

I’ve sent one letter, which was to Eck of course. He lost my letter so he’s going to give me a package because of that incident :) Thanks for the recomandation. I just finished a book about Dustin Pedroia. You should definitely check out that one as well!http://hyunyoung.mlblogs.com

When Josh came back to the team, we (fans and players) were pretty much done with him. And rightfully so. He had dragged us through the mud. We depended on him to be something, and he chose his drugs of choice over the area and the team. Tough to forgive. I am happy he’s doing well in Texas, though, believe me. Sometimes I go crazy thinking about an outfield of Crawford, Upton, and Hamilton.http://raysfanboy.mlblogs.com/

Kaybee: That is an awesome project! I hope they really respond. If they do, I might try it with the Yankees! I want that book. I saw a show about Josh on MLB Network called, “Josh Hamilton: Resurrecting the dream” and it was very inspiring. I hope he is a Yankee someday. Scott Hairston is pretty cute. He looks like his bro Jerry, who I think is cuter.
My Facebook link never really works. I’ll just friend you :)
-Virginiahttp://southernbelle.mlblogs.com

I was chatting with Hamilton the other day after a Rays game when the concert was going on and he stepped from the Vistor’s dugout to take in the music.
He is still a pleasant person to talk with, and even with the recent troubles, he is still focused and willing to go above and beyond to keep his head in the game.
Sometimes you need a relaspe like that to again make you realize how close you are to the edge all the time.
He is a great player, a fantastic dad, and is truly missed by the Rays fans for what he could have done both on and off the field here too.
I am glad to know the guy, even if it is as a “baseball buddy”.
His years of abuse might have cost him a shot at making the Hall of Fame, but if life had a Hall of Fame, Josh would be a shoo-in.

Thank you for being my own mentor on this niche. I enjoyed your current article quite definitely and most of all cherished the way you handled the issues I regarded as being controversial. You are always really kind to readers like me and aid me in my existence. Thank you.

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